Louisiana § RS 17:3399.35 - Management boards; policy on free expression

§ RS 17:3399.35. Management boards; policy on free expression

            Each public postsecondary education management board, in collaboration with the Board of Regents, shall develop and adopt policies on free expression that contain at least the following:

            (1) A statement that each institution shall strive to ensure the fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression.

            (2) A statement that it is not the proper role of an institution to shield individuals from speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America and Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and other applicable laws, including without limitation ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.

            (3) A provision that students and faculty have the freedom to discuss any topic that presents itself, as provided under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America and Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution of Louisiana and other applicable laws permit and within the limits on time, place, and manner of expression that are consistent with this Part and that are in furtherance of a significant institutional interest. Such restrictions shall be published and provide ample alternative means of expression.

            (4) A provision that students and faculty may assemble and engage in spontaneous expressive activity as long as such activity is not unlawful and does not materially and substantially disrupt the functioning of the institution, subject to the requirements of this Part.

            (5) A provision that any person lawfully present on a campus may protest or demonstrate there. Protests and demonstrations that infringe upon the constitutional rights of others to engage in or listen to expressive activity by creating a substantial and material disruption to the functioning of the institution or to someone's expressive activity in any location reserved for that expressive activity shall not be permitted. No conduct shall be deemed a material and substantial disruption that is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution of Louisiana. Such protected conduct includes but is not limited to lawful protests and counter-protests in the outdoor areas of campus generally accessible to the members of the public except during times when these areas have been reserved in advance for other events or minor, brief, or fleeting nonviolent disruptions of events that are isolated and short in duration.

            (6) A provision that the public areas of campuses of each institution are traditional public forums that are open on the same terms to any speaker.

            (7) A provision that the policy supersedes and nullifies any provision in the policies and regulations of any institution that restricts speech on campus and that any such provision is therefore inconsistent with this policy on free expression. Each institution shall remove or revise any such provision in its policies and regulations to ensure compatibility with this policy on free expression.

            Acts 2018, No. 666, §1, eff. June 1, 2018; Acts 2022, No. 727, §1.